Nisar gets Senate applause over response to UAE

ISLAMABAD - After getting appreciation on the social media for his statement in response to the UAE state minister’ statement regarding Pakistan's parliament resolution to remain neutral in the Yemen crisis, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan got applause from the opposition lawmakers in the Senate .Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan who came to the upper house of the Parliament after more than a year not only got appreciation from the lawmakers for turning up in the Senate but also over his reaction to the statement of the UAE state minister for foreign affairs.Following the statement of the state minister of foreign affairs of UAE that Pakistan would have to pay heavy price for his contradictory and ambiguous views on the Yemen crisis, the interior minister said on Sunday that his statement was insult to Pakistan’s self-respect and unacceptable as well as in total violation of the established diplomatic norms and principles. The lawmakers from the opposition benches, including Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), PML-Q, Awami National Party and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), especially, said the minister’s response to UAE’s statement over the Parliament’s resolution on the Yemen crisis was well in time and direly needed. JI Amir Sirajul Haq, Mushahid Hussain Sayed from PML-Q, Ilyas Bilour from ANP and Noman Wazir of PTI not only welcomed the arrival of the interior minister in the Senate but also his response over the UAE statement.The house, during a debate in connection with Constitution Day celebrations, said in one voice that the Constitution was not implemented in letter and spirit due to which the country was facing multifaceted issues. “The Constitution has been ‘murdered’ several times because the provisions aimed at safeguarding it were never implemented,” said Sirajul Haq, while taking part in the debate. The lawmakers of JUI-F, PPP, BNP-Mengal and the leader of the house in the Senate Raja Zafarul Haq, in their speeches, endorsed the Constitution was never implemented in letter and spirit.The house also discussed a motion regarding state of the country’s education. A number of lawmakers, mostly from the opposition benches, deplored the education sector in Pakistan was in a bad condition due to indifference on the part of all the governments and suggested increase in education budget. Mushahid Hussain Syed of PML-Q urged the government to declare an education emergency in the country. Noman Wazir of PTI focused on technical education. PML-N Senator Lt-Gen (r) Abdul Qayyum deplored that 25 million children in Pakistan were out of schools and asked more active of teachers.Col (r) Tahir Mashhadi from MQM said that despite commitment with the UN Millennium Development Goals, Pakistan was spending only 1.2 percent of its GDP on education. State Minister for Education Baleeghur Rehman, concluding the debate, focused on a uniform curriculum in the country. He said it was necessary to maintain minimum education standards in the country. He pointed out the matter of curriculum had been taken up at the meeting of Council of Common Interests (CCI) and a curriculum council had been formed for this purpose. “It will be disastrous if a uniform curriculum is not adopted,” he warned.He made it clear that Pakistan was spending two percent of its GDP on education while UN standards were four percent of GDP or 20 percent of total budget. “Some of our provincial budgetary allocations have increased from 20 percent of their total budgets,” he said. He clarified the number of children out of school was 16 million and not 25 million. In addition, he said, the literacy rate of the country had reached 60 percent for the first time that was 56 percent in the past while there were more than 10,000 PhDs in the country.